We were lucky to catch up with Antonio Vidal De Lascurain recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Antonio, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from the fact that I truly love the process of painting. In my experience, this is a career where it takes years, sometimes a decade, to see any real recognition. It’s only very recently that I’ve started making a consistent living from my work, but before that, I spent years alone in the studio for hours on end just trying to get better.
During that time, I was constantly applying for shows, residencies, and grants, and for the most part, the world didn’t seem to see it or care. Going through those ‘invisible’ years where I had to show up for myself without any external validation is what built my resistance. You learn to rely on your own drive rather than the eyes.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a painter originally from Mexico City. My path started when I was 17, I did a pre-college program at RISD and fell in love with the medium. I haven’t looked back since, though choosing painting as a career has been very challenging. I moved to New York in 2023 to get my MFA at Columbia.
What I find most exciting about painting is that it exists in this “sweet spot”, I know the medium very well, yet it remains incredibly challenging. It’s never a linear process. Some pieces work, some fail completely, and each one just creates new questions for the next. I find that unpredictable balance addictive. I also love the life painting has given me: the community, the unexpected friendships, and the places it has physically taken me. It’s given my life a very clear sense of purpose.
Professionally, I’m in a very exciting chapter. I graduated this past May, and for the first time since I started, I’m able to fully sustain my life through my work. I recently signed with General Expenses in Mexico City for representation in Latin America, and I’m currently preparing for a group show in Copenhagen this summer.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I would say they are experimentation, consistency, and not getting discouraged.
My advice is to experiment with approaches and techniques that make you uncomfortable or that feel unknown. Painting is like a video game where the more you paint, the more tools you collect. The more you collect these tools, the more you understand how to apply new things. Don’t try to develop a “style”; this happens organically as you work, as you keep some skills and put away others.
Consistency is another incredibly important skill—along with discipline. I think there is a misconception that painting, or art in general, comes from bursts of inspiration. In reality, it is more about showing up to the studio even on days when you don’t feel like it. Paint every day, draw every day, and show up for yourself; the work will definitely get better.
Lastly, not getting discouraged is probably the biggest one. Like I’ve mentioned before, it’s not easy to spend hours in the studio without any acknowledgment. It takes a lot of time and a lot of rejection. Most of my friends from undergrad—talented artists—stopped making work because it became too hard. You need an income, you get a job, and then you’re too tired to paint. Before you notice, it’s been a year and you hasn’t touched a brush. It’s important to keep painting if it is still important to you.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
Painting, Traveling and spending time with the people I love. Its not too far from what I am already doing, except I would travel more and save less money.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.antoniovidalstudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antonio.vidal.l/
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
